With only a week to go until Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice plants its costumed boot on the movie industry, a lot of footage from the film has already been seen. Or has it? Although it clocks in at a robust 2 hours and 22 minutes (minus credits), there's more that Snyder is leaving for the recently confirmed R-rated extended Blu-Ray cut. While some instantly pegged the rating as being a response to the success of Deadpool, Zack Snyder's wife and producing partner Deborah tells THR that's ridiculous....
"Online, everyone's like, "Oh, they're doing an R-rated in reaction to Deadpool," and you're like, "We didn't just shoot it last week, and we also didn't edit it last week."
Zack chimed in, saying the home release "is a half-hour longer, and some of that additional material is some of the stuff we took out for the rating. I was like, 'Cool, I can put it back in for the director's cut.' There was nothing by design. This was the material I just put back in, and then when [the MPAA] looked at it again, they were like, 'Oh, now the movie's rated R.' And, by the way, it's not a hard R. There's no nudity. There's a little bit of violence. It just tips the scale."
One of those scenes being put back in has to do with Jena Malone's mysterious character, which Snyder has promised isn't Robin. We'll see about that. As for criticism the film may be too dark and serious, Snyder has a response to that which makes a lot of sense...
"I would go back to 'The Dark Knight' argument and say, 'Is that a bad thing? What does that mean?' By the way, the most serious movies I’ve made in the past always have irony in them. I just gave it the weight that it deserves as far as the mythological conformation. But it’s still a guy in a red and blue suit fighting a guy in a black suit. I mean, they’re in costumes. The movie is fun, and Batman fights Superman. If you can’t have fun there, then something’s kind of wrong with you."
He's right in the sense that these are still colorful superheroes with heat ray beams and utility belts, so that should be inherently fun to those willing to have fun with it. The "serious" complaint was heard often in regard to Man of Steel, and other than the overlong and repetitive finale I enjoyed myself greatly, which isn't easy for me to say since I think Superman is pretty much the most boring character ever.
Meanwhile, six new clips from 'Batman v Superman' have been released, and I'll be honest with you that I'm not watching them. Not when the press screening is in a few days and the March 25th date right around the corner. Enjoy for yourself, though!
